1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services. More particularly, the present invention relates to capabilities that enhance substantially the value and usefulness of various messaging paradigms including, inter alia, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc.
2. Background of the Invention
As the ‘wireless revolution’ continues to march forward the importance to a Mobile Subscriber (MS)—for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD) such as a mobile telephone, a BlackBerry, etc. that is serviced by a Wireless Carrier (WC)—of their WD grows substantially.
One consequence of such a growing importance is the resulting ubiquitous nature of WDs—i.e., MSs carry them at almost all times and use them for an ever-increasing range of activities. For example, as reported by the industry group CTIA (see www.ctia.org) as of June 2007 there were in the U.S. approximately 243 million WD users.
Coincident with the rapid growth of WDs has been the desire of WCs, and other entities within a wireless messaging ecosystem, to offer MSs a continuing stream of new and interesting products and services that, possibly inter alia, attract new MSs and retain existing MSs, leverage or exploit the continually increasing features and capabilities of new WDs, incrementally increase the volume of messaging traffic (and the revenue that is associated with same) that flows through a wireless messaging ecosystem, etc.
Under various of the product/service offerings that were referred to above it would be desirable to be able to reward a MS (with, possibly inter alia, cash, free service offerings, product coupons and/or discounts, popularity indicators, etc.) for specific MS behaviors including, possibly inter alia, a MS' creation and sending of increasing numbers of certain types of messages. For example:
1) Joe is very popular in his high school and his acquaintances desire to be part of his message groups. His messages are entertaining and informative. In addition to text messages Joe will occasionally include in his messages various types of content (including for example photos taken with his WD's camera, small video clips also taken with his WD, third-party advertisements, pieces of User Generated Content [UGC], etc.). Joe's WC (possibly inter alia) might reward Joe based on possibly inter alia the number of messages that Joe sends to groups, Joe's inclusion of content in his messages, each time a recipient of one of Joe's messages acts upon the content in a message (e.g., visits an indicated Uniform Resource Locator [URL], replies to an indicated Telephone Number [TN] or Short Code [SC], etc.), each time a recipient of one of Joe's messages replies to a message, etc.
2) As word of Joe's messages spreads other MSs will contact Joe and ask to be included in one or more of Joe's groups. Joe's WC (possibly inter alia) might reward Joe based on possibly inter alia the number of MS that Joe adds to his groups, the number of ‘Welcome to my group!’ messages that Joe may send to new group members (such messages containing, possibly inter alia, content as described above), each time a recipient of one of Joe's messages acts upon the content in a message (as described for example above), each time a recipient of one of Joe's messages replies to a message (as part of possibly inter alia a confirmation, opt-in, etc. process), etc.
3) Tammy is a well-regarded financial advisor who sends numerous market update, analysis, etc. messages during the course of a day. Tammy may include in her messages different pieces of content (including for example market charts and graphs, advertisements from financial and other third-parties, pieces of UGC, etc.). Tammy's WC (possibly inter alia) might reward Tammy based on possibly inter alia the number of messages that Tammy sends to a group, Tammy's inclusion of content in her messages, each time a recipient of one of Tammy's messages acts upon the content in a message (e.g., visits an indicated URL, replies to an indicated TN or SC, etc.), each time a recipient of one of Tammy's messages replies to a message, etc.
4) In connection with a new product or service offering, an upcoming motion picture or television show or musical album, an upcoming conference event, etc. a third-party may provide one or more pieces of content (including possibly inter alia an advertisement, a piece of UGC, etc.). A WC (possibly inter alia) may incent MSs to employ such content by rewarding, for example, a MS when they include such content in their messages; a recipient of a MS' message when they act upon the content in a message (e.g., visit an indicated URL, reply to an indicated TN or SC, etc.); a content provider when their content is selected by and/or acted upon by a MS; etc.
The specific examples that were described above are illustrative only and it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous other examples are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention.
The present invention facilitates aspects of an infrastructure that provides MS rewards and addresses, in new and innovatory ways, various of the (not insubstantial) challenges that are associated with same.